Need to start expressing for op...

03-30-2010, 10:26 AM

Help! Recently I have found out I need to have an op, and only way they can do it is under GA.
This means I'll be away from my DS (now 7 months) for around 7 hours. Apart from this in itself being traumatic enough of a thing to deal with, that is such a long time to be apart, how the h*** am I going to feed him?! He had a bottle (expressed milk) in the early days when I had a nightmare with bf, but hasn't since probably about 5/6 weeks old.

The other day I tried expressing and I literally got only a drop out which really shocked me!! The op is due in 4 weeks time and I can postpone til later in the year, but to be honest I'll just be up against the same problem.

I'm just gutted as I hate the thought of him relying on a bottle for 7 hours, but there is no other option. I'm guessing that I'm going to have to start pumping to increase my milk supply...

I've read up on GA and most sites say it's ok to bf straight after, but I don't necessarily trust the sources of info - I'm trying (like many others) to keep my baba as pure as possible.

First, for pumping, I would suggest pumping when you're feeling very full and right before the baby nurses, like maybe if you wake up before baby. Also, pumping on one side while baby nurses on the other. It was a huge revelation to me when I learned that baby will be able to stimulate me to produce whatever baby needs, even if I pump right beforehand or simultaneously.

Second, for hospitalization, I was hospitalized twice while my daughter was nursing - once when she was 6 months old and once when she was 11 months old. They wouldn't even let her visit me the first time. The second time, I had my appendix out. I was there one night the first time and two or three the 2nd time. My DH had a hard time at night, but DD did ok with milk that I had expressed (I was working, so we always had milk in the freezer/fridge).

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Oh, and we had great luck with BreastFlow bottles. They require sucking to get milk out and didn't choke my daughter like other bottles did. Although, she had to have EBM from a bottle at a much younger age than your son - he may do fine with any bottle or even a sippy cup at his age.

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The other day I tried expressing and I literally got only a drop out which really shocked me!! The op is due in 4 weeks time and I can postpone til later in the year, but to be honest I'll just be up against the same problem.

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I would suggest looking into renting an automated double pump. I had difficulty using a manual pump unless I 'saved up' one breast all night (until it was about the size of a softball!) and then pumped first thing in the morning. Even then, I only got between 2-3 ozs. The double pump allowed me to get twice that amount pretty much at any time of the day except for right after a feeding.

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Great, thanks LLMom and Adreinne!
I did the saving one breast over night and that worked well. Hubby is trying with the bottle (we're using nuk) though don't think LO has quite figured it out yet, he mostly wants to chew it... I managed to borrow a pump from local community midwife...I've also postponed for a month to give us some more time.
Progress is being made!!
Thanks again